About

Crédit Agricole Group, sometimes called "la banque verte" (English: the green bank) due to its historical ties to farming, is the worlds largest cooperative financial institution.

It consists of a network of Crédit Agricole local banks, the 39 Crédit Agricole regional banks and a central institute Crédit Agricole S.A. In 1990, it became an international full-service banking group.

In March 2014, the Crédit Agricole Group unveiled its medium-term strategic plan, which put the emphasis on retail banking, insurance and saving. Internationally, the group decided to refocus on its core markets, starting with Italy, the group's second largest market.

Revenue – €30.427 (2016)

Total assets - €1.723 trillion (2016)

Total equity - €99 billion (2016)

Controversies

Business in Armenia and occupied Nagorno Karabakh

In Armenia, Crédit Agricole is the largest shareholder of the Armenian ACBA Crédit Agricole Bank, with 28 per cent ownership. It also has another subsidiary in Armenia, Crédit Agricole leasing & factoring.

As “Who else profits 2017” report says, ACBA Crédit Agricole Bank was created in the 1990s as a European Union development assistance project. In the last twenty years, the bank has received hundreds of millions of dollars in international financing through World Bank institutions, as well as loan agreements with other European and international financial and development bodies, such as European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Netherlands’ government-controlled FMO (Entrepreneurial Development Bank), and the EFSE (European Fund for Southeast Europe).

Through its Armenian companies, Crédit Agricole actively aids Armenian settler initiatives in occupied Nagorno Karabakh. ACBA Crédit Agricole sponsors the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund telethons in support of “both Armenias” and collecting funds for infrastructure development and settlements in Nagorno Karabakh. The fundraisers helped to collect tens of millions of dollars.

Crédit Agricole has been involved in numerous other projects to help Karabakh settlers. Moreover, during the last escalation of fighting with Azerbaijan in April 2016, ACBA Crédit Agricole announced that it would annul loan obligations of the families of Armenian soldiers killed in fighting for the occupied territory.